Hermione Meets Marvel: The Avengers Edition
by mariteri
Summary: Hermione has been asked to join the Avengers, where she will be battling Tony Stark's ego, Dr. Reed Richard's upset over a letter than he thinks she wrote, and coming to grips with what she still feels for Bucky Barnes-the new Captain America. Rated T. Some spoilers.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER—I do not own Harry Potter, The Avengers, or any of the characters therein. Nor do I make any moneys from the posting of this fanfiction.**

**Hello everyone! I hope that you're doing well. Here it is, the next in the Marvel series. Needless to say there might be some spoilers, but never fear they aren't excessive. I've kept the story light for the most part. Hermione doesn't really find out about the Winter Soldier here either, but I don't think it's missed. Let me know what you think. Enjoy!**

**Please read and review!**

**…**

**Chapter One**

Hermione looked at Harry as if he were insane. As the head of the Aurori, he usually had a hand in operations both in and out of the magical world. And whereas it was it was true that she had a few interactions with him in regards to work, he usually left the giving of orders to the head of the Department of Mysteries. That was usually, she pointed out to herself. And this, this wasn't usual—not by a long shot.

"Let me see if I comprehend what you're trying to tell me," she said as casually as she could manage. "You want me to go to New York and become a part of the Avengers?"

"Yes," he said.

"Why?" she demanded quietly.

"Because we can do some good," he answered. "They are meeting up with more and more people with powers that many within the muggle world can't come close to comprehending. With our help, I do believe we all can do some positive work towards a greater understanding…"

"Please stop!" she snapped. Standing up she leaned over the desk, looked him straight into his startled green eyes and growled, "Tell me in your own words and not those Percy wrote for you to deliver to the magical press!"

Blushing now he said quietly, "Please, Hermione. We can do some good helping them out. I know it."

"Why me?" she asked.

"You were asked for in person," he told her. "And by more than one person."

Hermione pulled away and sat down slowly, watching him intently as she inquired, "Who?"

"Tony Stark," he answered. "Another man by the name of Nick Fury—I can't believe that's an actual name. And the last being…" He looked down at a paper on his desk. "Captain America."

"He's dead," she muttered mostly to herself.

"Well, apparently a dead man has made at least twenty phone calls a day within the last week in order to convince the Minister of Magic himself that you are very much needed over in New York." He leaned back slightly and added, "So has Deadpool for that matter. But as soon as he was assured you'd be back in New York and delivering chimichangas to him before too long, he stopped calling."

"They threw me under the bus in other words," she sighed.

"Deadpool's certifiable. Of course they did," he answered, making her laugh.

Getting to her feet, she said, "Okay. I'll go. But if I don't like it, I'm going to leave."

"I told them you'd say as much," he told her. "They're expecting you at the Avengers' Tower at noon their time today."

She looked at her watch and muttered a curse as she flew out of the room in order to create a portkey to arrive on time.

Even as he watched her leave, Harry was wondering if he were doing the right thing. Whether or not he were, he knew her part of this would be changing their world as they knew it.

…

"Is getting a new team member a good idea given everything going on?" Bruce asked quietly.

"I think we need new blood," Tony said, sipping on his coffee as he looked over to Natasha and Clint. "What do you guys think?"

"I think that you're asking for no other reason than to hear that your idea is a good one," she said casually. "Seeing as you never cared for either of our opinions before."

"I do too care," he answered casually. "As long as you agree with me."

"Do people really think that's charming, Mr. Stark?" came the crisp British tones from a woman who was walking into the sitting room from the balcony.

"Of course they do, Miss Granger. That's why they pay me the big money," he drawled to her.

"Where did you come from?" Clint asked her.

"Outside," she replied. "Is there coffee?"

"At the bar," Tony told her, even as he was enjoying the befuddlement she managed to leave in her wake.

She served herself some coffee, black, and went over to sit down across from Stark. "You're growing increasingly ruder, Mr. Stark. Use the manners someone attempted to teach you and introduce me to the others here."

"Guys, this is Hermione Granger," he said. "You'll have to introduce yourselves, as that's below my pay grade."

Natasha rolled her eyes, even as Clint looked over to her and gave her a nod of his head and said, "I'm Clint Barton and this is Natasha Romanoff."

"Lovely to meet you," she murmured, looking over to Bruce who had walked over to where she was.

"I'm Bruce Banner," he said quietly.

"It's nice to meet you as well," Hermione said with a smile.

"And of course you know Bucky," Tony said of the man entering the room.

She looked over to him. He had gone stone still and was watching her intently. "Oh yes, I know James."

The Black Widow looked from her to the Winter Soldier and back to the woman again. They had a history. It should prove interesting to see if they let it all spill out in that moment.

"Hello Hermione," Bucky said.

"James," she murmured, making him flinch with the coolness of her tones. "We need to talk in private. Now." She got up and went over to where he was. "Well?"

He motioned to the balcony and she followed him outside.

"Ooh, drama!" Tony said, calling out, "Are you recording this, Jarvis?"

"No, sir," he answered. "There's interference with the feed."

Frowning he asked, "What kind?"

"Miss Granger made a cricket bat out of a stick and hit all the cameras with it, sir."

"I like her already," Nat said, making Clint and Bruce laugh.

Meanwhile, outside finishing up the last of the cameras, Hermione tossed aside the bat that turned into the stick once again as she did so.

"You had no right calling me weird," she told him. "I'm a smart, good looking woman with more class in my little finger than you have in your whole sorry self…"

"I know…"

"I'm not finished!" she snapped. "If you didn't want to start something because you couldn't handle it, you could have said as much. But I didn't deserve the blame, I didn't deserve the anger, nor did I deserve thinking something was wrong with me when it was you the fault lay with. If you ever want a 'normal' relationship, you're going to have to pull your head out of your ass." She finished up and let out a long sigh. "That felt good."

"Done?" he asked quietly.

"Yes," she murmured.

Swallowing his pride, he said, "You're right."

"I know," she said confidently. "That's the thing about being the smartest witch of my age—chances are I'm going to be correct the majority of the time."

"Immodest," he replied.

"I did say the majority of the time," she rebutted. "It wasn't like I said all of the time."

He grinned at that. "Got me there."

Her face went a bit sad. "I don't think I can be friends with you, Bucky. That's not to say that I won't be able to work with you. But I don't think we'll be able to be friends for a time yet."

"I understand," he whispered.

"I don't think you do," she told him. "I spent a week crying. I had a crazy mercenary ask me if I wanted you dead and I actually gave it serious thought for all of a tenth of a second." She pushed the arm of her left sleeve back to reveal the scar there on her arm. "I've been called all sorts of names most of my life. Weirdo, freak, and mudblood tops the list." She looked at the word there on her arm. "You managed to hit a sore spot without trying. And frankly, I don't want you calling me names every time you have issue with me or what I am."

"What does that mean?" he asked, his voice hoarse.

"I'm a first generation magic user. I'm what is referred to as a muggleborn. As such, those who call themselves purebloods see me as unclean—a mudblood." She absently traced the letters on her arm, as she added, "This was carved into my arm by a mad witch, as she was torturing me." She looked up to him. "I'm worth more than any label put on me. But that doesn't mean I'm impervious to the insults. And until you learn to hit the right target with the anger in you, I don't want to be your friend."

"I deserved that," he admitted.

"No shit," she muttered and walked back into the penthouse straight through the group of Avengers who had gathered to watch them.

"Wow," Tony said casually. "That was anticlimactic."

Hermione turned around and socked him in the jaw, knocking him on his ass. He sat up, rubbing his jaw as she stood there with her fists on her hips.

"Better?" she inquired.

"Much," he sighed. "But couldn't you have punched Bucky instead?"

She blinked at Tony in shock. "Are you joking? That man is built like a steel reinforced concrete building. I would have broken my hand!" Hermione pointed to Stark and told him, "You're just lucky that I decided to forgo kicking you in the groin as well."

**TBC…**

**There you are! The first chapter is out swimming laps in the internet swimming pool. Let me know if you liked it. Thanks for reading and have yourselves a remarkable day.**


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER—I do not own Harry Potter, The Avengers, or any of the characters therein. Nor do I make any moneys from the posting of this fanfiction.**

**Hello! Here it is another beautiful day in the land of fanfiction. The next chapter is here! Enjoy.**

**Please read and review!**

**…**

**Chapter Two**

Hermione looked around the large suite of rooms that would be her apartment there at Stark tower. It was so…big, was about the only thought she had. She was accustomed to much smaller accommodations. And the large amount of space was making her feel uneasy. This place was safe, she told herself. How could it not be? It was with that question that she went searching for an answer.

It was three in the morning when she found Clint sitting in her living room. He got up and went over to her. Putting his hands on her shoulders, he guided her over to the bedroom. Without a word, he lay down into the bed and pulled her in with him. He covered her with the duvet and pulled away so that he was on the other side of the queen sized bed.

Hermione just lay there for a moment before she breathed, "The place is too big. I can't see everything. I'm not used to that."

He looked over to her, thinking that over. "I get it. If I didn't know the security in this building as well as I do, I think I'd be the same way. But I do know it. It's the best money can buy. You're safe here."

She allowed herself to start relaxing. "Tell me one thing about yourself."

"One thing?" he asked, thinking it over. "No big secrets, right?"

"Whatever you want to say," she breathed out.

"I used to be in the circus when I was a kid," he told her. "Grew up in it."

She smiled. "Sounds like what most kids' dream of growing up. Bet it was worlds away from what was reality."

"That it was. Okay, what's your one thing?"

"I went to school in a castle," she told him, yawning. "It was brilliant…up to the end that is."

"What happened?" he inquired.

"War." She moved a little closer to him. "What's your favorite joke?"

"All I know are dirty ones," he murmured, watching as her eyes were beginning to slowly fall shut.

"That's okay. Happy is happy. And I need a laugh right now."

He thought for a moment and said, "Did you hear that Raggedy Anne got tossed out of the toy chest?"

"No, can't say as I did. What happened?" she asked, her face rubbing against the pillow as she inquired.

"She kept sitting on Pinocchio's nose and yelling, 'Lie to me! Lie to me!'."

Hermione's giggling was soft as a whisper, but still had him smiling as she said, "Good night, Clint."

"Good night."

He left the apartment and went straight over to Stark, who was working in his lab.

"Give me what you know about Granger," he demanded quietly.

Tony studied him a moment before he pulled out a flash drive from his desk and plugged it into his comp unit. Next thing Clint knew was that images flooded the air in front of both of them.

"Her full name is Hermione Jean Granger," Tony said, just as Bruce joined them from his own lab across the way. "She grew up in the upper middle class and her parents were dentists. I say were as the couple were murdered in Australia when she was seventeen."

"Harsh," Bruce said quietly. "But if they were in Australia why wasn't she killed as well."

"That's just it," Tony said. "There's no record of Hermione past the age of twelve. I have no answers to that. The best I can say is that she must have sent them out of England when the magical war began to keep them safe, but it didn't work out the way she planned. I was able to get some information from a man by the name of Harry Potter, but not as much as I had hoped. Told me that he would send some information over, but I have yet to get anything." He looked over to Barton. "Why the interest?"

"I checked on her via Jarvis. Even with the time difference and her half dead on her feet, she wasn't sleeping. I thought it was odd, but didn't do anything about it until now. It's three in the morning, Stark, and she was still awake. I went in there and managed to talk her down. She's asleep now, but I was wondering what could have had a middle class girl growing up want to be so hyperaware of her environment as to keep herself awake no matter what."

Tony looked thoughtful as he said, "From what Potter said, the magical war was really bad. It could do a number on anyone."

"Don't forget, she was tortured as well," Bruce said quietly. "That'll mess with you too."

Tony nodded in agreement. "That it does." He looked at his watch. "What do you know? It _is_ three in the morning." He looked to Bruce. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Flipping the billionaire off, the scientist walked away to go to bed even as Tony was chuckling.

"I really shouldn't do that," Tony said casually to Clint.

"No, you shouldn't," Clint agreed. "It makes me think you're crazier than advertised."

"No, it's clearly sleep deprivation," he told Clint. They just looked at each other for a time before Tony added, "If I weren't, I would have come up with a much better story. I'm a genius after all."

The archer only rolled his eyes and walked away, not even wanting to know if that was the punchline to Stark's joke or not.

…

_"__Pig! Come back here, you god forsaken bird!" _the indignant female screech broke into Tony's bubble and had him looking up to see Hermione chasing after a small owl holding a letter down the corridor between the labs.

The hyper little bird was flying about in circles and always out of reach. But she kept after it, even as Bruce came out to see what was going on as well as Tony by that point. They watched as she stopped running and whipped out her wand, yelling out a spell that had the bird freezing in midair.

Panting, she walked over and levitated up to where the bird was floating. Taking the package from Pig, she landed lightly on her feet. Absently she ended the spell, as she walked away. Nodding to the others as she went, she opened the letter.

"Coffee?" she asked Stark.

"My lab," he told her. "What's with the bird?"

"Magical post," she muttered, as she kept reading the letter as she went over to his lab. "Pig has always been…" She lifted her head to look over to him. "Hyper." Pig flitted over and landed on her shoulder, snuggling up to her cheek as he did so. "I don't have any bacon or owl treats here, Pig. You're going to have to wait until we get back over to my rooms or the kitchenette."

Tony could have sworn he saw the bird look disappointed at being told this.

"So the bird is how you get mail?" Bruce asked, as he joined them in the lab.

"Yes," she answered, as she went back to reading the letter. "The magical world's answer to expedient post, I suppose." She scoffed at something in the letter, but ended up folding it and putting it away in her jacket pocket. "About that coffee…"

Tony pointed his thumb over to the pot off to the side. She went over, found a mug, and poured herself some of the hot beverage.

Wincing once she took her first sip, she told him, "You're a genius and you can't make a decent cup of coffee? For shame!" And yet she kept on drinking the dreadful brew.

"If you hate it, why are you still drinking it?" Bruce asked.

"If I vanished it and made a new pot that didn't taste like battery acid, he'd expect me to do so from then on," she replied, walking out of the lab. "I'm not his servant. He needs to learn to do it for himself or at the very least design and manufacture a machine to make the coffee for him."

A shocked look crossed Tony's face. "Why didn't I think of that?!"

…

"You want me to investigate Hermione Granger?" Natasha asked Clint.

"That's what I said," he answered, sounding annoyed. "Why the confusion?"

"No confusion," she corrected. "A package of information was being delivered by barn owl, of all things, to Avenger's Tower. It was intercepted and we took it to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. It contained employment and scholastic files on one Miss Hermione Jean Granger. It also had a few personal letters in regards to her.

"Really?" He looked over to see Hermione cooking up some bacon as she spoke quietly to a small owl that was paying apt attention to her every word. "Did you kill the bird?"

"No, actually as weird as this may sound, the bird was very cooperative."

"Good," he answered. "Something tells me that killing it would have been bad." He turned away from Hermione. "When are you going to be here?"

"I'll be there in time for an early breakfast. Why?"

"No reason," he said. "Just curious is all."

"Oh," she murmured. "It's like that, is it?"

"What?! I don't know what you're talking about," he said tightly even as he was fighting not to look back over to her. "So okay, I might know what you're talking about." Her rare laughter had him grinning as he muttered, "It wasn't that funny."

"Trust me," she retorted. "It was."

**TBC…**

**…**

**There you go! Another chapter has hop, skipped and jumped out into the internet. Thanks for reading and have yourselves a (insert beverage of your choice) filled day.**


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER—I do not own Harry Potter, The Avengers, or any of the characters therein. Nor do I make any moneys from the posting of this fanfiction.**

**Hello! Thank you to everyone! I've been getting such a warm response to this new story. I'm loving that. The fact that you're taking the time to read, review, and follow/ favorite means quite a bit to me. Your time is important and I appreciate that you took some of it to enjoy this story.**

**Please read, enjoy, and review!**

**…**

**Chapter Three**

"My God," Tony said, looking up from one of the reports. "She might even be smarter than everyone in this room other than me."

"Modesty, thy name is not Anthony Stark," Hermione said, as she strolled over with her face buried in a book that managed to look older than all of them together.

It was Clint that rushed over and pulled her over to an empty chair rather than allowing her to sit in Bruce's lap as she was about to do. When she took note of it, she blushed and said thank you to the archer before delving back into what she was reading.

Bucky only chuckled to himself and went back to reading what he had been before. Tony looked interested in what she was reading, but only in so far as he was curious as to what it was about. As soon as he was told it was about math, he abandoned his interest and went back to reading the English witch's file.

Bruce ended up finishing reading before the others and looked over to Hermione, who was still paying no mind to the others there. Her hair was a in a knot at the top of her head, but it still managed to partially spill around her face in wild curls that looked near on impossible to restrain.

"Hermione?" Bruce said, calling her attention.

"Yes?" she murmured, even as she poked a finger into the book to keep her place as she looked over to him.

"Are you scared of anything?" he asked her.

"Certainly," she replied and went back to reading her book without answering what. When there was nothing but silence for five minutes, she looked back up at the small group at the table watching her. "What? Do you really think I'm going to tell you what I'm scared of? What kind of genius do you take me for?"

This gained her a snort of laughter from Bucky and Clint. It was Tony who cleared his throat and said in a mild voice, "I'm terrified that I won't be in time for some huge attack and more and more people will get killed."

This had Bruce nodding in understanding even as he added to it, "I'm scared that the big guy is going to get out of my control and that there won't be a thing to do to stop him."

"I'm scared that the Winter Soldier will crush my mind completely," Bucky whispered.

Clint's jaw went tight at the thought of telling what he was scared of. It went against everything in him to give away a weakness in such a way.

"I'm terrified of heights," Hermione told them. "I absolutely hate them."

"But you're a witch!" Tony exclaimed. "You can fly on a broom!"

"Yes, but it doesn't mean I want to!" she snapped back. "I've flown on brooms, a type of winged horse none of you have ever heard of, and a dragon. If there's one thing I'm sure of it's this—I hate flying and heights are sure to have whomever I'm with deaf from my screams of terror."

"There are times when I think that Loki will take over my mind again," Clint said, his voice brittle as he did as much. And that's all he has to say for most of them to know what's going on with him and his fear.

"Loki? The Norse God of tricks and lies?" Hermione inquired. "He's real?"

"Yeah, he's very real," Tony told her. "Turns out that he and his adoptive family—Thor, you'll meet him later—are all real and from a different planet rather than gods."

"Oh." She thought it over. "Interesting. They must be extraordinary. Long lived…very strong…amazing powers."

"Not to say that you're wrong, but how did you come to your conclusion?" Bruce asked her.

"The dating of the origins of Norse myths are well over two thousand years old, giving us a time frame and thusly gives evidence that are very long lived," she said casually. "The Earthlings thought that they were gods." She shrugged. "I don't know about you, but where I'm from the label of 'god' isn't really given to any average idiot that drops by for a pint or a cuppa." That gained a snort of laughter from a couple of them there, even as Bruce was grinning at her answer.

…

Hermione went over to the large screen with Captain America fighting a metal faced man with dreadful taste in clothing. This was old news footage from around three months before. All the Avengers were there fighting and it was clear that the man was very powerful. But it had been the Captain's fighting that caught her attention.

"I thought you said Steve Rogers was dead," she breathed.

"He is," Tony said tightly. "That's Bucky."

"Bucky?" Hermione's head tilted as she kept watching. "He just took over the mantel?" She looked over to Tony. "So now he's the Captain?"

He nodded, sorrow etching his features. She heard someone else joining them as they kept watching the footage.

"Doom," Bucky growled.

"I wanted to have some idea what the Avengers did," Hermione said casually. "We need to speak in private." She looked over to Bucky. "Now."

Bucky went stony faced, but motioned for her to follow him. Soon enough they went over to his rooms. They stood there for a time staring at each other.

"You're the one that wanted this meeting, doll," he reminded her.

"I know," she replied. "I'm just gathering my thoughts." She went over and sat down on the edge of a chair. "Where is he?"

"Who?" he asked, his voice low and like gravel.

She looked up into his eyes, saying, "Steve Rogers."

"He's dead…"

"Don't you dare start lying to me," she said, her voice hard. "You know, we may not have been that familiar with each other, but we do know each other well enough to know some core issues." She stood up and went over to him. "You would never take over the role of Captain America without Steve's say so. Don't try to say differently, Bucky. You would have let the very notion of Captain America die and rot away if you didn't get Steve's express permission to don it."

His head lowered slightly as he let out a long sigh and muttered, "Last I heard from him, he was in Canada."

She went over to him, lifting his face up so that she could look him in the eyes. "He contacts you what? Once or twice a month?"

He laughed bitterly. "Yeah, about that often."

Pulling away from him, she told him, "Sooner or later they'll have to know. He was a part of their team—their family. If it comes out of the blue that he's still alive…" She thought it over. "It won't be good."

Hermione was on her way out of the room when he called out to her. Stopping, she turned to face him. Bucky cleared his throat and he said, "I messed up with you. You weren't the one with issues, it was me. And I was wrong to say what I did. More so than I even imagined. I-I…" He swallowed thickly. "I'm talking with someone. Learning how to be not so…me."

"There's not that much wrong with you, Bucky," she sighed. "It's an absolute human trait to jump into jackassery from time to time." She smiled weakly. "Given how you put everything into all you do, it's no wonder that you did such a magnificent job of it."

He let out a snort of self-deprecating laughter, as she walked out of his apartment and shut the door quietly behind herself.

…

The second night was little better than the first. Only this time it had been a nightmare that had woken her an hour into sleep that had her restless. Instead of Hawkeye slipping into her room, it was Hermione going to his. Clint was sound asleep when she slipped into the bed next to him. Curling up, her eyes were slipping shut as he turned around to face her. His arms went around her, his eyes still closed as he kissed her temple.

"What's the matter?" he sighed.

"Nightmare," she muttered, rubbing her face against his chest as if she were trying to rub the very images from her eyes.

"Get some sleep," he told her rubbing her back. "I got your six."

"You'll have to explain what that means in the morning," she sighed and was asleep before he could say anything.

Smiling to himself, he drifted back to sleep as well.

**TBC…**

**…**

**There it is! The chapter has wrestled the internet to the mat and the count of three has been called! Thanks for reading and have yourselves a Wrestlemania (I still can't believe that's been going on for thirty years!) filled day.**


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER—I do not own Harry Potter, The Avengers, or any of the characters therein. Nor do I make any moneys from the posting of this fanfiction.**

**Hello everyone! Hope everyone is doing well. Here we are at chapter four! Enjoy!**

**Please read and review.**

**…**

**Chapter Four**

Hermione was deep into her second mug of coffee, as she was sitting in the common dining area when Tony announced that he was a genius.

This was, of course, right before he said, "And oh yeah, Thor is here with his people."

"What does one have to do with the other?" Hermione asked him.

"Nothing, I just didn't want you to forget my overall genius."

"As if you would ever let us," she muttered.

"Ouch! Grumpy still after two mugs of coffee in the morning," Tony said. "Jarvis, please take note of that!"

"Sir, you already did as much when you decided to change the coffee to decaffeinated this morning," the bodiless British voice announced.

Hermione stopped drinking, putting the coffee down and went over to him. "Changed up the coffee. Funny. Not even the Weasley Twins are daring enough to do that much. Just remember, it's never wise to interfere with my coffee." Her hair snapped with electricity so loud that Tony actually jumped when it happened. "I'll give you this one. But the next time, I wouldn't lay odds of you being able to do much of anything to fix whatever it is I do in retaliation to your idea of a joke."

"There's nothing you can do to me, Granger, that I wouldn't know about and stopped before you did it," he told her.

"Really?" she asked him, looking causally up to the top of his head. "Nice hairdo."

The billionaire's eyes went comically wide and he rushed out of the room to the nearest bathroom. When he came back and opened his mouth to snap something at her, she was smiling wickedly.

"Made you look," she said casually and walked away.

…

Hermione was introduced to Thor, Jane, and Darcy at the brunch fifteen minutes after Hermione found out about the coffee switch Tony made.

"A witch?" Thor asked, looking uneasy as he said as much.

"Elemental mage," Hermione corrected what Tony had told him. "The title of 'witch' is used as a generalization here on Midgard, as descriptive of most female magic welders. It's vastly misused even within the magical realm of the enclaves."

The big blond relaxed at her words even as he went over to her and greeted her with a formal air kiss to the hand.

"Lady Hermione, it is a pleasure to meet you," he said, stepping back even as Jane and Darcy came forward. "This is Lady Jane."

"Nice to meet you," Jane said, casually as the two shook hands.

"And her assistant Lady Darcy."

"Hey," Darcy said. "So you can do magic, huh?"

"Yes," Hermione replied, shaking her hand. "That I can."

"Like what?" she asked, which had her the focus of everyone there.

Hermione cleared her throat and said, "It's not like I do street magic for crowds. In fact, the most minor of magic use in front of non-magic users is discouraged within the enclaves." Her cheeks went a bit pink. "Pardon me while I go cleanup for brunch." And she vanished from the room with a quiet pop.

Everyone there blinked in shock at what they had just seen.

"Wow," Darcy breathed. "All I was expecting was her pulling a rabbit out of a hat."

"Something tells me that's not her thing, doll," Bucky said.

Some twenty minutes later, they were all sitting around the table eating and chattering away in friendly conversations around the table. There were times that she was completely lost by what Darcy was telling her, especially when the young woman went on about computers in painful detail.

"Wait one second! I know that look!" came from Tony, pointing straight at Hermione. "You don't work with computers?"

She shook her head no. "Not really, not unless they have special buffers—which was the first thing I inquired of Jarvis that all your equipment has. And it does. Nothing on the market can withstand my magic for longer than two weeks at the most." She looked over to Bucky. "That iPhone I showed you?" He nodded. "It blew up three days later and that was the longest I had any cell phone at a whopping four weeks." She sighed. "I had so hoped too."

Tony leaned back and said, "I'll work on something for you."

"Great," Hermione said smiling. "In the meantime, can someone tell me exactly what a super computer is? What's so super about it and do you think it has a magical surge protector?"

…

When the Avengers found Hermione sitting calmly chattering away to Hulk as she would to any other human, needless to say they were very stunned. She was playing with a bike bell, as she was talking with him.

"My good friend Grawp gave me this," she told him. "He likes ringing it. It makes him happy. Do you like the bell?"

"Puny bell," he grumbled.

"Yes, I know," she told him. "But he thinks it's pretty. We can't fault him for liking different things, can we?"

He grunted at that.

"Grawp like smashing," she told him. "He smashes a lot." She tilted her head and added, "But something tells me Hulk smashes too."

Hulk smiled at that. "Hulk smash good!"

A tray of nachos floated over. "The food is here! It's time for Bruce to eat."

"Okay," he said, but he reached out and petted her head tenderly. "Bye."

Soon enough Bruce was lying out on the ground in front of Hermione and the others rushed over to see if everything and everyone was okay.

"You're insane," Natasha told her, even as she was watching the other woman stroking Bruce's hair.

"What happened?" Bucky asked.

"He received a phone call," Hermione said. "He was fine, but then he started going all green and big." She looked over to Bucky, "That man he was speaking to managed to infuriate him very quickly."

"Did you hear a name?" Tony asked her.

"I do believe he called him General Ross," she told them.

"What did that sonofvabitch say to him?" Clint asked.

"Sorry to say that I don't know," she murmured, looking down into Bruce's eyes. His eyes looked scared and haunted. Hermione crooned to him, "Nothing happened. You didn't do anything wrong." She grinned. "I think Hulk likes me."

"Oh god," Bruce groaned, thinking the worst when she said as much.

"Not like that, you big goof!" Hermione said, getting up from the floor.

"Were you not scared, Lady Hermione?" Thor inquired.

"Yes," she told him. "But I can't let my fear control me or I'd never leave the house." She looked to Thor. "Besides, Hulk is only seven and a half feet tall or so. It wasn't like he was the size of a troll. Trolls are twice as big with far less intelligence. And they never bother to stop to say, 'Smash!' They go straight to smashing."

Thor chuckled at that, enjoying the fact that this Midgardian was so plain spoken.

The alarm on her watch went off. "Shoot! I'm going to be late!" She rushed out of the room, grabbing her purse along with what looked to be a plain paper bag. Going back over to the room, she said, "I shouldn't be out too long." She stopped and worried her lower lip. "If I end up getting drunk, can I call for a ride home?"

"Here," Clint said, handing her a cell. "That has all of our numbers on it."

"Take this," Stark said, handing her a keychain. "If you run into something you can't handle hit the button and we'll show up to help." When she looked from the large letter A and back to him. "It pays to advertise."

"Where are you going?" Bucky asked her, trying for casual but failing.

"I'm dropping off a bag to Deadpool and then I'm going to be meeting up with some of my friends at a bar…" She pulled out a note paper and told them where she was going. "I swear if they don't serve a decent whiskey, heads will figuratively roll."

Once she was gone, Bruce looked over to Tony who looked deep in thought.

"We're going to that bar, aren't we?" he asked, sounding resigned.

"Oh yeah!" Tony replied, rushing out to his penthouse to get ready.

**TBC…**

**…**

**And there it is, another chapter has cliff dived into the internet sea. Thank you for reading, reviewing, not to mention, following/favoriting. Take care, have yourselves a halcyon day, and remember to stay, as always, awesome.**


	5. Chapter 5

**DISCLAIMER—I do not own Harry Potter, The Avengers, or any of the characters therein. Nor do I make any moneys from the posting of this fanfiction.**

**Hi! Hope that you're having yourselves a lovely day. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!**

**Please read and review.**

**…**

**Chapter Five**

It turned out that Deadpool was out on a job somewhere. She left the bag off with a note, telling him that she was sorry to have missed him and to try not to burn the bag before he would get at least a few dozen chimichangas. Hermione ended up right back in the cab, telling the driver the name of the bar, along with the address. She ended up in Brooklyn and a new hipster hot spot, feeling too old and knowing the drinks would cost a good deal more than they should be charging.

Luna and Ginny greeted her, looking like they were ready for a party even if she wasn't. She wanted a whiskey or a pint and a good plate of finger food. She would pay good money for a good sandwich. Hermione followed them into the bar, gave her precise instructions for her drink—and heaven help them if they fucked it up. She needed a good drink and a conversation with friends. It had been a hectic few months and she wanted to, more than anything, pretend to be somewhat normal.

"So how is New York treating you?" Ginny asked her. "Meet any fit blokes yet?"

"I meet fit blokes constantly," she told her. "It's meeting sane ones that seem to be the problem."

This gained her a laugh. Hermione knew that Ginny thought she was joking when she said as much. Sadly, Hermione had been absolutely being truthful when she had said as much. Insanity within the hero community seemed to be part of the package.

"Why is Ron trying to write me letters again?" Hermione asked. "The last time he tried as much, he had just broken up with his latest bimbo."

Ginny and Luna looked to each other and back over to Hermione.

"He is of the mind that he wants to date you once again," Luna said in her dreamy voice.

"Mum has convinced him that you and he are soul mates and that's why all his relationships fail," Ginny told her.

Rolling her eyes, she muttered, "Of course she's totally ignoring the fact that the one explosive failure of a relationship was the one he had with me."

"Of course," Ginny said. "It's right up there with Mum ignoring the fact that Harry's gay and keeps telling me that we were meant to be!" She laughed, her hand going over to Luna's nearest to her. "And this of course is ignoring the fact that I'm already married as well."

And of course this is the very moment the world seemed to go still. All eyes seemed to go to the entry way of the bar and there might as well be a spotlight aimed there to the group of people there. Hermione looked over and suddenly did a double take when she saw Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Bucky Barnes, Clint Barton, and Darcy Lewis standing there looking around.

"Fuck," she muttered, grabbed her newly delivered drink and downed it without tasting the whiskey. Hoarsely she muttered to the waitress, "Bring the best, most expensive bottle of single malt whiskey you have and charge it to Stark."

"Glinda!" Tony crowed, as he was approaching their table.

"Make that two bottles," she corrected turning to look at him. "You're buying tonight."

"Of course!" he told her, looking over to her friends. "Hello ladies."

This had Ginny laughing even as Luna smiled in a friendly fashion.

"Tony, these are my friends Ginny and Luna Weasley," she told him, looking over to see Bucky and Bruce going off to a quiet corner even as Clint and Darcy were going to the bar. They were making eyes at each other and chances were given after a few drinks they would end up in bed together. "I need to get some air. Play nice, Stark."

"I always play nice," he said casually. "I only bite when asked."

"You do realize you're attempting to flirt with a married lesbian couple, right?" Hermione asked him.

"I do now," he replied. "But beautiful women of any sort are well worth the effort of some excellent flirting on my part."

"Whatever you say, Atlas," she replied, walking away and hearing Bucky snickering at what she had called Stark in jest.

She went outside and ended up near a stand of smokers, most of whom were vaping. Hermione didn't comprehend the act and pretty much ignored them as she tried as she might to get some cool air into her lungs. The night was still new and the air still held some of the warmth of the day, but it was going chill faster as the sun was moving further away. Pulling her jacket more fully around herself, she looked up to the buildings around herself.

She felt more than saw someone joining her outside. Hermione flicked a look over to the person joining her. Bruce was quietly standing there, looking slightly nervous as he did so.

"I could have hurt you," he said quietly. "The big guy…He could have killed you."

"I know," she murmured. "But as odd as this may sound, I don't think you give him enough credit." He blinked at her in shock. "He's more than rage. True, he is primitive, but he's not incapable of listening and learning. He's a part of you. Trouble is he scares you. And that makes it even more difficult in the long run."

"He's a killer!" he hissed.

"Yes, he is just that," she replied. "Let me ask you this—are you smart?"

He blinked at her.

"Well?"

"Yes, I'm smart," he answered. "But…"

"And is the Hulk not a beefed up, hyper angry you?"

This had him frowning and breathing, "Yes."

"The Hulk is smart, because you are smart," she told him. "He is not a being that can be divorced from you because you can't. He occupies the same head space." That had him looking at her startled. "You've learned to control when he appears with very few exceptions to this. That being the case chances are you can learn how to join into a cooperative with him as well."

"That's…insane," he breathed.

"Perhaps, but it's not beyond the pale." She patted his shoulder. "Just think about it, okay?"

He gave her a brisk nod.

"Now let's get back inside and find out if Darcy has landed Clint yet."

Laughing he said, "I thought the two of you were starting to be an item."

"I make him curious," she told him. "He might even find me exotic. But with Darcy? I think they're a set." She chuckled. "Besides, I don't think he's looked up from her boobs once in ten minutes."

"There is that," Bruce said. "And did you see how she's been looking at his arms?"

"Hard to miss," she replied lightly. "Is there room over at the back table? I think I may kick Stark if I have to deal with him much longer tonight."

"Yeah, there's more than enough room, but Bucky…"

Sighing heavily, she said, "It'll be okay."

…

So Hermione was sitting with Bucky and Bruce, a bottle of the top shelf whiskey sitting on the table. She and Bucky sharing the bottle even as Bruce was sipping on a bottled water.

"Do you ever drink vodka?" Bucky asked her.

"No, as what I usually have available is crap," she told him. "I tried this one bottle once that I could have sworn was window cleaner. After that I swore off on vodka. Or at the very least the cheap brands."

A movement caught her attention and had her looking over to the doorway.

"Oh Merlin," she muttered, wanting to sink down into her chair and hoping that the man she saw coming into the bar didn't see . "This isn't going to be good."

"Miss Granger," Dr. Reed Richards stands right by the table, looking like a furious pillar of indignation. "What brings you to our fair country?"

"I heard that this was where all the good men were and it was better that I visit than become a mail order bride," she answered pithily. "And what pray tell brings you here to this bar? It doesn't look like your usual hangout."

He bristled and said tightly, "I know you're the one responsible for sending that letter out."

She studied him a moment. "The infamous letter." She sipped on her drink. "I told you that we would have no part of your war. And we didn't, not even in a peripheral way. That means I didn't send a letter to anyone even about the weather never mind about the unconstitutionality of that law."

He scoffs at her. "You expect me to believe that?!"

Studying him a moment, she asked, "Have you registered yet?" That had him going silent. "Has your wife, your brother-in-law or Ben Grimm?"

His mouth went tight.

She stood up and asked, "Has your son?"

"My son has nothing to do with this!"

"No, that's where you're wrong. He's more powerful than every single one of us in this room and you know it. And if you're arrogant enough to think that you're enough to train him, you're a bigger fool than I thought you were." That had his eyes going wide. "And by not registering any of you in that little clique of yours, it makes you not only a fool, but a hypocrite."

**TBC…**

**…**

**And that's another chapter being slam dunked into the internet. Thanks for reading and be sure to have yourselves a Bejeweled (I am so addicted to that game!) day.**


	6. Chapter 6

**DISCLAIMER—I do not own Harry Potter, The Avengers, or any of the characters therein. Nor do I make any moneys from the posting of this fanfiction.**

**Bonus chapter! Yes, as I will not be able to post tomorrow, you will all be getting another chapter today!**

**Hello everyone! Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!**

**Please read and review.**

**…**

**Chapter Six**

"Reed!" A woman's voice had the man snapping out of his anger and turning his head to look behind himself to see his wife rushing over to where he was. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"She said she wouldn't…"

"She didn't!" Susan snapped, the angry blond glared at him. "You know it as well as I do. Whomever wrote that letter was an American and you know it. And given how many out there were pissed off, it could have been anyone!"

His face flushed, as he told her, "It could have been her!"

"And it could have been a Constitutional lawyer! You have no proof!" She ran her hand through her hair in frustration. "You're acting like an ass and what's worse is that it's all being filmed. Did you think of that when you came running over here or did you get so caught up in needing to be the one to call a woman out that had nothing to do with you not getting your own way to think of just how you found out she was here?"

Hermione looked around and sure enough there were dozens of people with their cell phones out and filming them. "Bucky, we need to leave," Hermione breathed. "Please. I need to go."

He was to his feet and was in full protection mode at the tone in her voice. It wasn't fear. And no it wasn't intimidation either. It was…panic? But what was doing it? What had her worried? Bruce was next to her.

"What's the matter?" he asked her.

"I hate being filmed," she said mostly to herself. "And I'm angry at Dr. Richards, not to mention drunk. I don't like this invasion of my privacy. The combination could have me doing something inadvertent and stupid." She looked to Bucky, swallowing thickly. "I miss you, you giant arse."

A smile twisted his lips. "And I miss you, you damn shrew."

"Ahh, that's the nicest thing I've ever been called," she replied. "It's so sad when you think of it." She paused and added, "Well…that's if you don't count being called Sweet Cheeks by a psychopathic mercenary that is." She went over to him, resting her head on his chest. "Home?"

"Home," he murmured, looking over to Banner even as his arm went around her. "Ready to blow this pop stand?"

"Yeah," he said, watching how they were being filmed by all. "More than ready."

Bucky looked over to where Tony was still speaking to Ginny and Luna, who were all standing to go. Stark paid the tab, as it turned out, for the entire establishment—winning him more friends than he ever wanted. They slowly made their way out of the bar and out to the street where the car was waiting for them.

Hermione ended up curling up in Bucky's lap and falling asleep as he held her tightly. Darcy and Clint were necking on and off between being heckled by Tony. The rest were quietly talking and soon enough they were dropping off Ginny and Luna at their hotel.

"We were expecting something like this," Ginny said, laughing. "Say what you will about Hermione, she cannot hold her liquor."

That had Tony laughing. "Thanks for the skinny on her, guys. Let me know when you're in town again. If the world doesn't need saving, we can go out again."

Once they were into the building, Tony turned to the others and said, "You guys will never believe what I found out about Hermione."

"I have pictures of you in a tutu from when you were in college," came from Hermione who didn't even open her eyes.

"I burned those!" he exclaimed.

"Not all of them," she replied. "And now we're in the digital age. Just think. They're out there."

He went silent even as he was glaring at Hermione. "She accidently makes electronics burn out when she's drunk and upset. Which, by the way, is why she wanted to go home now when she saw all those people filming at the bar."

Nothing was said as Hermione had gone back to sleep and no one else cared enough to do so.

Bucky carried Hermione over to her rooms, putting her to bed. He was about to leave when her voice stopped him.

"I've been having nightmares." He stopped in his tracks, turning his head slightly towards her. "It happens all the time in new places." He turned fully towards her. "And I'm at a loss at what to do."

He went over to her, sitting down on the edge of her bed. "If I stay here, we'll end up doing something neither one of us is ready for, sweetheart." He reached over and combed her hair out of her face, caressing her cheek. "This time, I don't want to mess it up like we did before."

"This time we need to talk more," she told him. "I know that."

"But?"

"One kiss a day isn't pushing any boundaries is it?"

Laughing he leaned over and the two of them shared a slow, warm kiss that soon had her arms around his neck. She pulled back slightly, sighing, "You know that's only our second kiss."

"Yeah, sweetheart, that I do. What about it?"

"You're a damn fine kisser," she sighed. "And do you think it would be silly to ask for a nightlight?"

"No, not at all," he told her. "Want me to stay until you're asleep?"

"Yes, if it's not too much of a problem," she sighed and curled up.

Bucky stayed with her until he was sure that Hermione was sound asleep. With one gentle caress of her hair, he got up and left to the living room. Lying out on the sofa to get some shut eye. Before he drifted off into a light sleep, he asked himself what he was doing by staying there. What if she didn't remember this tentative whatever it is that they had? He told himself that he would take it like he did everything these days—one day at a time.

…

When Bucky woke up it was to the smell of coffee and hearing Hermione talking with someone on the phone.

"Reed Richards is insisting that I'm the one that wrote that letter," she told whomever it was she was speaking to. "No, I didn't…I have no reason to lie about this…So you want me to tell you two truths and a lie?" Hermione rolled her eyes as she poured a coffee. "I have a lovely collection of blackmail material on Tony Stark. The only language I care about is Mathematics. On a good day, I can see myself flying around the world." She looked over to see Bucky watching her. She pointed to her mug, as a way to ask him if he wanted any. He shook his head no. "Well, I told you I wasn't a good liar." Their conversation came to a close and she turned to Bucky. "What Dr. Richards said last night has me thinking. I need to see that letter."

"Who were you speaking to?" he asked.

"Professor Xavier," she murmured. "Wolverine said he was a good listener and I needed to hear what he had to say about that letter." She worried her lower lip. "You didn't have to stay on the lounge, Bucky."

"I wanted to," he told her, going over to her. "Do you remember last night?"

She nodded. "I was tired as well as partially drunk. The combination not being a good one to say the least." She took a sip of her coffee, muttering, "I've learned the only thing better than pancakes is pancakes with bacon cooked inside of them."

That had him smiling to himself. "I like chocolate chip cookie dough."

That had her smiling. "Me too. I have a recipe for it that doesn't have eggs and tastes really good. I'll make a big batch of it one of these days and we can see what you think of it."

"Sounds good to me." He reached over and combed her hair out of her face. "You're beautiful in the mornings."

She chuckled to herself. "You must care quite a bit to be saying that. I'm what is commonly referred to as a hot mess in the mornings, but I'll take your complement anyway." She reached up and cupped his face, her thumb caressing his beard roughened jawline. "You're not half bad looking in the mornings yourself, soldier."

He took her coffee from her and set it aside. Taking her into his arms, he asked, "Do you know how to dance?"

"I hold my own," she admitted. "I take it that you do?" He danced her around and soon enough had her in a dip that had her leg going up and around his hip. Laughing she said, "I'll take that as a yes."

He lowered his head towards hers, kissing her lips lightly. "And I wouldn't be opposed to more than one kiss a day."

"I thought I'd be lucky to get one never mind more than that," she admitted quietly.

"You're in luck, sweetheart," he told her with a grin. "I have a ton of 'em and they're all yours."

She let out a groan. "As corny as that sounded, I loved it."

"I know," he said, as he set her back onto her feet. "I'm slick that way."

Laughing she asked him, "Who told you that?"

Smiling he admitted, "Darcy."

"She's pretty wise for being a smart arse," she murmured, pulling his head down. "Now give me another kiss, because something tells me it's going to be one of the only things today that I'm going to be remembering fondly."

"Whatever the lady wants," he breathed and kissed her again.

**TBC…**

**…**

**And there goes another chapter freefalling into the internet. Thanks for taking the time to read, review, do the Hustle, and follow/favorite. (Grins) Keep on keeping on and have yourselves an illustrious day.**


	7. Chapter 7

**DISCLAIMER—I do not own Harry Potter, The Avengers, or any of the characters therein. Nor do I make any moneys from the posting of this fanfiction.**

**Hello everyone! Thanks for reading. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy.**

**Please read and review.**

**…**

**Chapter Seven**

The small group were looking over at the large projection of one of the letters sent out showing the unconstitutionality of the Superhuman Registration Act as it stood before the changes that were made to it. The letter was electronically generated and had many there wondering what could be found out about it or the person who wrote it by reading it yet again.

"Amazing," Hermione whispered, as she read it. "Whomever wrote this had a firm grasp on Constitutional law, but they weren't a lawyer."

"Where did you get that from?" Clint asked her.

"It has quotes from the Constitution of the United States riddled throughout it and yet there are no statutes or cases sited," she said casually. "They were American. The spelling of words such as 'color' have been Americanized." She looked over to Natasha who was looking over to her. "No 'u'."

She nodded to this, adding, "And the phrasing is American as well."

Hermione nodded. "And it was generated on an Apple computer."

"Okay, how the hell do you know that?" came from Tony Stark.

"I owned an iMac desktop for all of two weeks before the motherboard blew out. The font used in this letter is called 'American Typewriter' and it's only available with the Apple version of MS Office," she answered, but ended up sighing, "I loved that font."

Tony looked back over to the letter, muttering, "Damn, I didn't even think of the font."

"Take heart," Hermione told him, looking back to the letter. "Apparently neither did Dr. Reed."

…

"No."

"We need to know what happens when you touch it," Tony told Hermione. "It'll give us proof to back up your claims that you can't operate a laptop computer, as well." He watched her running her fingers through her hair in frustration. "Come on, Glinda, it won't be that bad."

"I've had enough computers explode around me to last me a lifetime, thank you very much. But if we need to do it, we need to do it." She looked him dead in his eyes and told him, "But there better be safety procedures in place."

"What can go wrong?" Tony asked blithely.

"If I can't make Deadpool his chimichangas, you'll find out."

He was quiet a moment before asking, "Is he as crazy as I've heard?"

"More," she told him flatly.

"Safety procedures it is!" he exclaimed and went to work on them.

…

Five different computers sat on different tables within the isolation room that usually was the Avenger's practice room. Hermione looked over to Tony in annoyance at hearing AC/DC blaring over the speakers. He smiled smugly. That is until the speaker seemed to blow out. Hermione only blinked at him.

"What did you do?" Tony demanded.

"Me?" A guitar started to play. "Changed the tempo." It turned into a Latin dance music that seemed to be infused with modern rock. "That's better."

"Why this?" he asked her, as he watched as she began to dance around him in time with the music.

"I thought to myself which would annoy Tony more—Kaiser Chief's Modern Way off of the Rhythm Del Mundo Cuba album or the Vitamin String Quartet playing Lady Gaga's Alejendro." She spun in front of him, pausing long enough to say, "You can guess which I picked."

It was then that Bucky came into the room, frowning as he did so. Tony was yelling at Jarvis to change the music, as Hermione was dancing around him as if she didn't have a care in the world. He went over to Hermione, taking her into his arms and began dancing around the room with her in his arms.

"He has no appreciation of the subtleties in this world," Hermione told him.

Bucky laughed. "Stark doesn't do subtle, sweetheart."

"If he did, he'd take note that all five computers were toast by now," she told Bucky. "You're a divine dancer, James."

"Thank you, Hermione," he replied, chuckling to himself as an alarmed looking Stark went around to all the different computers. "So are you."

"You said that you made computers explode!" Tony snapped at her.

"By having the testing in an isolated area, such as here, it's more to the protection of your other computers than myself. I thought you would have appreciated that as much as your own physical safety," she said to him, as the song came to an end.

Tony blinked at her before saying, "Meaning you could take down my computers? I think not."

"I strongly suspect I can't, but I didn't want to take that chance," she murmured.

Tony nodded to this, understanding where she was coming from for a change.

"Mr. Stark, several Shield agents are here to speak to you," Jarvis announced. "It's in regard to the Letter, sir."

"Again?" he muttered, as he turned to the door. "Is it the good Shield agents or the bad ones?"

"It is Director Fury and his people, sir. And he wishes to speak to Miss Granger as well," he told him.

"Come on, Glinda," Tony said, rushing out of the room. "This should be so much fun!"

She stood there for a second before saying to Bucky, "I swear if he finds any sort of schadenfreude from this meeting, I will hex him."

Hermione charged out to follow Tony out with a smiling Bucky following behind her.

…

Nick Fury leaned back in his chair, studying Hermione as she sat silently across from him. She wasn't what he had been expecting. All the reports he read had her being one of the smartest and strongest natural born witches there were. He would have at least expected her to have more controllable hair.

"Did you write the letter that was sent out to everyone in regards to the Superhuman Registration Act?" he asked her.

"No, I didn't," she told him. "I made a pledge to keep out of that business. And I did just that, Director. Not only did I not write that letter, none of my associates did either. We saw it as keeping our end of the bargain. And before you ask, yes, I did ask around. No one on our end of this wrote that letter."

He studied her a moment. "Who do you think wrote it?"

She thought that over before saying, "There could be only one, but…" Hermione pursed her lips. "There's no proof and there won't be. He's just that good."

"Stark…"

"Isn't that good," she cut off Fury. "You're talking about the same man that when given a perfectly good alibi couldn't allow his ego to shut the hell up and ended up announcing to the world that he was Iron Man."

Fury's hard mouth twisted into a grin. "Point made."

"Excuse me?! I am too that good!" Tony told them.

"Yes, but you would have had a press conference telling everyone that you wrote it five minutes after it hit the Internet if only to get back into Pepper Pots' good graces and pants once again," Hermione pointed out.

"Okay, I accept that," he allowed.

She looked back over to Fury. "Tony Stark may be many things, but immodest enough to remain anonymous isn't one of them."

Fury nodded to this. "If you don't have proof, how did you even guess who it might be?"

Looking over to the nearest camera, she asked, "Mr. Jarvis, could you please be so kind as to show the holograms of the paparazzi pictures in the media taken of the Richards family from just before the time of the posting of the letter to present."

"Of course, Miss Granger," Jarvis answered and all the photos were projected as holograms.

She pointed out the first of the photos. "All is normal in the first photos. Children running ahead like they tend to do."

She stood up and moved the other pictures out of the way, showing the photos from the next day on to Fury. He slowly got to his feet and walked over to where she was. Looking closely at the photo, he saw what she did and felt it like a blow. They were circling the children. Everyone that is except for Reed, who was acting like normal.

"The children?"

"No, the child," she told him. "His younger sister is in her mother's arms, but who is in the middle? They're protecting Franklin. Reed Richard's team know that it was he that sent the letter out. Why else act like this? Why would his uncle be carrying his laptop so publicly? To this point no one knew nor cared that he could operate anything outside of a gaming system, never mind a top of the line iMac laptop."

Tony got to his feet and went over to look at the photo more closely. "My god," he breathed. "Are you sure?"

"Like I said, I have no proof, but no one else makes sense," Hermione murmured. "Susan Richards doesn't want her husband looking into the letter. Why? That's where I started investigating." She looked over to Fury. "Dr. Richards won't stop until he can prove that I was the one that did it. And chances are that his wife will tell him only if pushed."

"Why are you concerned about that?" Bucky asked.

"The man is angry over not getting his own way," she told him. "And if he gets even more frustrated than he is right now, he will more than likely let it slip about the magical enclaves as some sort of revenge on me for the slight on him by supposedly writing that letter." She looked to Bucky. "If that happens, it's standard procedure to wipe memories." She looked over to Fury. "That would be everyone's memories in this case."

Fury's face went hard. "A meeting it is. It's time for this bullshit to end."

**TBC…**

**…**

**There you go! Another chapter has leaped off the trapeze and into the internet. Thanks for reading and have yourselves a dance filled day.**


	8. Chapter 8

**DISCLAIMER—I do not own Harry Potter, The Avengers, or any of the characters therein. Nor do I make any moneys from the posting of this fanfiction.**

**Hello! Good day, everyone! Thank you for reading. I can't believe that we're nearly to the end of our travels. It's just this and the epilogue to go. Enjoy!**

**Please read and review**

**…**

**Chapter Eight**

The Fantastic Four sat on one side of the table with the Avengers surrounding Hermione on the other and S.H.I.E.L.D. encompassing everyone. Susan, Johnny, and Ben looked upset, maybe even nervous. But Reed looked about ready to blow a gasket he was so angry.

Nick Fury stood up and said, "We've been investigating the letter that went viral after it was sent to the Supreme Court, the U.S. Federal Government, and ultimately posted on the internet."

Reed leaned back, looking smug as he asked, "And who sent it, as if I didn't already know."

"Contrary to what you may believe, Miss Granger couldn't have been the one to send the letter," Maria Hill was the one to say. "As she doesn't own a computer."

"What?!" Reed snarled. "That's a lie!"

"No, she asked me to investigate a way for her to be able to own a computer that her magic won't burn out the motherboards," Stark told him. "I've tested it, Reed. She can't operate a computer for much longer than a week before the internals literally melt."

"If the letter that had been sent out was on parchment, then I would say that chances are that it was me," Hermione told him. "At the very least you'd be able to narrow it down to me that way. But I kept my word. I had nothing to do with it." Looking straight into Reed's eyes, she said, "I do swear so on my magic." A wind that couldn't have come from any windows near them as they were underground blew through the room and died as quickly as it came.

"What was that?" Johnny Storm asked.

"The Fates acknowledging my oath, they investigating my claim, and thusly finding me clear as I told the truth. If I had been found guilty of lying, I would have been on the floor dead as I would have had my magic torn from my body," Hermione told them, looking back to the shocked scientist. "We in the magical enclaves take oaths very seriously."

"But if you didn't do it, who did?" Dr. Richards breathed.

Hermione looked over to Susan, who flushed, but said nothing. Next she looked over to Johnny Storm, who winked and blew a kiss at her. Bucky let out a low growl in Russian at him doing this. Hermione leaned over and kissed his cheek. He went still, as Hermione whispered in Russian to him. Quietly he slipped his hand over hers, relaxing as he did so. She looked over to Ben Grimm next. She had never met a man that looked like a rock before. It was interesting to say the least.

"I wager you're an excellent poker player, Mr. Grimm," Hermione said to him.

The big man looked at her shocked for a moment before busting out laughing. "That I am, kid! One of these days we've got to get together and have a few rounds of cards."

"Sounds like fun," Hermione said, looking back over to Susan. "Are you going to tell him or am I?" The statuesque blond looked to her sharply. "It can only be one person. And as much as you want to protect him, you're doing it all wrong."

"What is she speaking of, Susan?" Reed demanded.

"Oh for Merlin sake, Franklin," Hermione said, turning to the empty chair at the end of the table. "Now would be a good time to show yourself."

Reed Richards was to his feet a second after his son revealed himself to all of them there. "What's the meaning of this?!"

"You know for a smart man, you're behaving rather daft," Hermione said casually. "There's only one reason why I would ask him here. Can't you guess?"

His eyes went over to his son. "No…"

"I did it!" Johnny jumped to his feet. "I'm the one that wrote the letter!"

Rolling her eyes, Hermione drawled, "Spell 'constitutionality'."

"C-O-N…s…?" His voice faded, but he piped back up again with, "I used spellcheck."

"And pray tell, does your smartphone have a Constitution app telling you about the document in question and how to use it correctly in an argument about law?" Hermione asked him dryly. "You may be many things, but known for your intelligence isn't one of them." She looked over to Ben. "You know as well as I that Dr. Richards must find out the truth sooner or later. Protecting Franklin so is doing no one any favors."

Ben looked over to a panicking looking Susan. "She's right, Sue. I'm all for protecting the half-pint, but hiding this from his own pop? It's not right."

"Franklin?" Reed whispered, walking over to his son. "Did you write that letter?"

He studied his father a moment before he said, "Yes, I did."

Dropping to his knees next to Franklin's chair. "Why? The law as it stood could have helped so much more than it does now."

Franklin shook his head slowly. "No, it wouldn't have." He looked over to Hermione. "How do I explain it to him in a way that he can comprehend?"

The answer came to her almost immediately. "The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Showing him what could have been is also another thing you might try."

Franklin thought it over and nodded. "She's correct." He looked to his father again. "What you wanted would have decimated not only the United States, but the world in your attempt to force everyone into doing things the ways you saw best." He shook his head. "It doesn't work that way, Dad. It never has. It never will." Franklin reached over and cupped his father's face. "You may think you know best in this, but see what would have happened if that law continued as it was."

Flashes of prisons around the world—a place where no one was truly free and all that went against the powers that be ended up in a gulag for reeducation. Horror lit Reed's face as he saw it all. Franklin pulled back and looked over to Hermione Granger.

"I'm sorry," she apologized to him. "If I didn't fear what your father would have done, I would never have pressed you into revealing yourself."

He nodded to this. "You fear for your people's wellbeing. I understand." Franklin looked over to his mother. "Are we still having hot fudge sundaes after lunch today?"

Smiling she went over to him, kissing the top of his head. "Yes we are." Taking his hand, they walked out of the room and soon enough straight over to their transport.

Johnny was the next to get to his feet. "Well, this has been a blast. See ya!" And he quickly made his exit.

Ben got up and went over to Reed. "Our business here is done, buddy. Time to go home."

Reed slowly got to his feet. He looked to still be in shock. Looking over to Hermione, he asked weakly, "How did you know?"

"How could you not?" she shot back. "Making everyone else's business your own and you had no idea what was going on within your own house." Getting to her feet, she said, "You're quite a tiresome man, Dr. Reed. I do pray this is the end of our dealings."

Reed cleared his throat and said, "I owe you an apology." Clearing his throat again, he whispered, "I was wrong." He held out his hand to her.

She looked from his hand back up to his face. With an indignant snort, Hermione walked away from him with the others from the Avengers following her out.

It was Tony that stopped to look at him and say, "You do realize that you never actually said the words 'I'm sorry', right?"

"And I thought I was the clown in this two man circus," Ben said to him. "You couldn't even say the words could you?"

Shaking his head, he left the room along with Stark and most of the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as well. It was Fury who was left there with him.

"The world is changing," Fury said to him. "It has been for longer than I care to imagine. And it's nice to feel as if we can fall back on rules to keep everything how we want it." He got to his feet slowly. "But your kid is right. The world doesn't work the way you wanted it to. People are fallible. We make mistakes, we see voids in the power structure and we move in to fill them in order to attain that power for ourselves." He studied the doctor a moment. "You're an idealist. And there's nothing wrong with that. But you never did see what was wrong with your law because of just that."

"What do I do now?" Reed asked him.

"Now?" Fury walked to the door and said, "Go home, enjoy your family, and hope whatever it is your son showed you never comes to pass."

**TBC…**

**…**

**There you go. Another chapter has line danced into the internet. You just have the epilogue to go! What are you waiting for? Go catch the bus to the next chapter! Hurry! LOL, yeah, I know it doesn't work that way. But I couldn't get that image out of my head. That's me having fun for you.**


	9. Epilogue

**DISCLAIMER—I do not own Harry Potter, The Avengers, or any of the characters therein. Nor do I make any moneys from the posting of this fanfiction.**

**Enjoy!**

**Please read and review.**

**…**

**Epilogue**

**_Two years later…_**

The wedding had gone off without a hitch. Hermione was enjoying every moment of it and was currently dancing with her husband, James Buchanan Barnes. They only had eyes for each other—if one could ignore the glares of death Bucky was shooting at Mrs. Weasley and Ron for being pills and Hermione for silently threatening to hex Harry for bringing them in the first place that is.

Dr. Strange was there, having been asked to be the "Wedding Coordinator". When asked what that would mean, she told him that she had a feeling that Harry was going to be bringing Ron at the very least—not thinking he was going to be silly enough to bring Ron's Mum as well.

"I need for the reception to be fun for everyone," she told him. "I don't want to have to be worrying about hexes being tossed at anyone."

He smiled at that. "Rest assured, I have your back."

He was the one that went over to Mrs. Weasley and Ron when both of them looked perplexed when her tripping jinx didn't work on Hermione.

"The bride asked for me to assist her in her wedding," he said, his low voice had them both looking over to him. "Put away your wand, witch."

"Who do you think you are ordering me around?" Mrs. Weasley demanded.

"Dr. Stephen Strange, sorcerer supreme," he introduced himself.

Mrs. Weasley's eyes went wide and quickly put away her wand. Swallowing thickly, she said, "I had no idea Hermione knew of you."

He just stared at her. "She was the spokesperson for the western enclaves, madam. How could she _not_ know me is the question."

…

Bucky went over to where Steve was sitting, grabbing himself a beer along the way. Sitting down next to him, he watched as his bride was doing the Hustle with Deadpool. The two laughed as Hermione danced the disco era dance properly even as Deadpool was doing whatever the hell he wanted.

"It's good to see you happy," Steve said to his best friend.

Bucky sobered a bit, as he said, "I never thought I'd have anything close to this kind of life." He looked over to his best friend.

Steve grinned at that, saying, "Hermione's good for you."

"That she is," Bucky agreed. "I'm a lucky bastard that she took me back."

He looked over to Hermione who was now laughing with Domino and Cable as she was telling them a joke and ultimately that she was very happy that they were able to come to the wedding. Bucky smiled slowly at the sight of his bride moving over to next to Dr. Hank McCoy, bumping him with her hip and gaining a chuckle from the furry blue mutant that went by the name Beast.

Getting to his feet, he went over to his wife. Hermione was beaming as she went over to her groom, meeting him halfway.

"Honeymoon?" she asked him quietly.

"What about tossing your bouquet?" he inquired.

The flowers popped into her hands and she tossed them behind her. They heard more than saw the fight for the blooms.

"I'm going to be a bride!" Deadpool exclaimed, making both Bucky and Hermione burst into quiet laughter.

She turned to face her friend, happy for him. "Deadpool?" He looked over to her. "All the chimichangas are yours." She motioned with her head towards three large aluminum trays holding upward of at least three hundred chimichangas total labeled, "FOR DEADPOOL ONLY! EAT AT YOUR OWN RISK!"

The red and black outfitted man went over to her and hugged her, telling her, "You are my bestest friend ever." He pulled back and looked at her husband. "Break her heart again and I'll break you into pieces."

"If I do, I'll find you to do it," Bucky assured him.

Nodding he turned and attempted to casually stroll over to the chimichangas, but this completely vanished as he teleported over, grabbed all three trays, one on top of the other. "MINE!" And he vanished from the reception as he teleported away once again.

"It takes so little to make him happy," she murmured.

Bucky smiled, whispering, "Honeymoon."

Hugging him, she agreed, "Honeymoon!"

And they apparited away to the nearest hotel where they were registered under different names. Sure, S.H.I.E.L.D. would still be able to find them, but it would at least take a few minutes longer. And that's all they cared about. Well, until they saw on the news about the genetically modified giant cicadas that came bursting out of the ground in Central Park that is. Work was work, after all.

**The end!**

**…**

**There you go! I hope that you all liked it. My thanks and gratitude go out to everyone that took the time to read, review, and follow/favorite my story. Take care and until we meet again—gangi pér vel (Icelandic).**


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